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Melda Dietz
Melda Dietz is a fighter pilot serving in the military of the Great Garmillas Empire. She plays a central role in building friendly relations between Garmillans and humans during a time of war between their two peoples, and she becomes an important member of the resistance against the leadership of the empire. History Among the Enemy Dietz serves in the 707th Galactic Theater Air Corps at the rank of Lower Storm Leader, and is stationed aboard the battlecruiser EX-178 when the ship becomes lost inside a subspace void. The ship encounters an enemy vessel trapped inside the void with them, the Earth battleship Yamato. Dietz flies her Czvarke fighter to Yamato under a flag of truce in the hope that her crew and the "Terrons"--the Garmillan term for humans--can cooperate on a way to escape. Once aboard, she conveys her captain's plan to use Yamato's wave motion gun to create a temporary opening into normal space and for the EX-178 to tow the battleship out of the void. The proposal is accepted, and Dietz stays aboard Yamato to ensure that the Garmillas will hold up their end of the agreement. The plan works and both vessels return to interstellar space, but several imperial warships arrive and launch a surprise attack that destroys the battlecruiser in the process. Yamato escapes, but Dietz finds herself stranded with her alien hosts ("Graveyard of the Universe"). Dietz is a focus of controversy and hatred almost from the moment that she sets foot on Yamato. Never having seen a member of her species before, the crew is stunned to discover that, except for her blue skin, Dietz seems to be completely like them. At the start of negotiations, she calls Terrons "inferior," like the conquered races that have become second-class citizens within the empire. She also goes on to accuse Earth of having started the war with the Garmillas, a fact that some of the crew angrily reject after years of having been told otherwise by their own government. As the two ships prepare to escape the void, Dietz is watched warily by another fighter pilot, Akira Yamamoto, who harbors an especially deep hatred of the Garmillas. The two exchange restrained taunts with one another, but when it briefly appears that the battlecruiser will abandon Yamato, Yamamoto threatens to shoot Dietz for her supposed treachery. Dietz attacks her and seizes the gun--but gives it back once the EX-178 resumes towing, explaining that this is not the proper way for pilots to fight ("Graveyard of the Universe"). : During her extended stay on Yamato, Dietz is treated as a prisoner of war and is confined to the ship's brig. She submits to a medical scan, but she refuses to divulge anything except the most basic information to her interrogator, Lieutenant Susumu Kodai. However, she slowly responds to Kodai's display of trust and kindness, and comes to realize the decency of the people she is fighting. The rivalry between her and Yamamoto remains, though, and Dietz immediately accepts her offer to settle their conflict with a duel. The two launch fighters without authorization. Dietz proves herself to be the equal of the Terron ace pilot and the two pursue one another until Yamamoto's fighter suffers a sudden malfunction, forcing her to eject. In an act of honor, Dietz rescues her and brings her back to the ship ("A World I Once Saw"). Once Yamato comes within range of a suspected Garmillas base, Dietz is given several days of provisions and is allowed to depart. The grateful lower storm leader shakes hands with Kodai and signals farewell to her former captors ("A World I Once Saw"). Upon returning to Garmillas territory, she is asked about her experience by her father, supreme fleet commander Admiral Gul Dietz, but she does not share any of it, to his frustration ("What Lies Beyond"). Harsh Truths and New Allies Dietz is in the Garmillan capital city of Baleras weeks later in the midst of a new and dangerous set of circumstances: after the apparent death of Leader Abelt Dessler, her father has been arrested and falsely accused of involvement in the assassination, and the Imperial Guard has tightened its grip on the population. One evening, she watches from a distance as Imperial Guard troops herd prisoners aboard a waiting transport, including the wife of a famous general, Elisa Domel. A family breaks out of line and attempts to flee, but they are immediately executed and Domel is assaulted for trying to interfere. Dietz is dismayed by what she witnesses, and fails to notice two officers who are following her ("Out of the Forest of Memory"). They eventually reveal themselves to her as resistance members secretly working against the current regime and she agrees to join them ("They're Coming!"). Dietz and her new partners escalate the resistance into open rebellion by taking a warship loaded with smuggled weapons to the prison planet Leptapoda. Upon entering the complex, they distribute the weapons to the inmates and initiate a riot that quickly overwhelms the security force. During the riot, Dietz personally rescues her father, and she stands by him as he assumes command and orders the surviving guards to surrender ("Prison Planet 17"). With the prison secured, unexpected acquaintances of Dietz arrive--the space battleship Yamato. Dietz joins her father and several others for a meeting with Yamato's senior staff and Princess Yurisha Iscandar. Admiral Dietz takes the Garmillan warship away to liberate other prison planets, but leaves his daughter to serve as a liaison ("The Planet That We Head For"). Toward a New Garmillas As Yamato nears its destination, the planet Iscandar, Dietz gives the crew information on the Salezar system that they use to avoid detection by loyal Garmillas forces. She and Kodai resume their respectful relationship, and most of the crew quickly adjusts to her presence. With Princess Yurisha, though, Dietz is obedient and deferential to a fault, practicing the reverence that members of Garmillan generally display toward Iscandar. In a moment of anger, Ensign Yamamoto confronts Yurisha, and Dietz immediately intervenes and threatens to reignite their personal conflict, but a word from Yurisha cools their tension. Dietz relaxes somewhat and starts to form friendships with both women, especially Yamamoto ("The Planet That We Head For", "The Distant Promised Land"). Despite their best efforts, Yamato is discovered soon after it enters the Salezar system, and the Battle of Garmillas begins. Dietz continues to give guidance on the main bridge as the ship fights its way toward the planet Garmillas, and she later flies support and fires on approaching Garmillan fighters in defense of Yurisha, riding in a fighter with Kodai ("One Man's War"). Dietz remains on Iscandar as Yamato departs for home ("The Distant Promised Land"). Two months later, she escorts Princess Yurisha to a meeting between Yurisha and one-time rebels turned leaders of the new Garmillas government ("The Forever War"). In the year 2203, six months after the end of the Gatlantis-Garmillas War, Dietz was again by Yurisha's side on Iscandar ("[[Earth, Yamato Is...|Earth, Yamato Is...]]"). Personality Dietz is a model Garmillas soldier, one who excels as a combat pilot and who values honor in her service as an officer. Her sense of honor is rooted in her family’s long history of military service in important positions. Upon freeing Admiral Dietz from captivity, she salutes him rather than greeting him as her father ("Prison Planet 17"). She extends respect to alien military officers whether they are friends or enemies, and is willing to follow the orders of a non-Garmillan senior officer, even while she views aliens as inherently less capable and deserving than members of her own species ("Graveyard of the Universe”, ”A World I Once Saw”). During her time aboard ‘’Yamato’’, though, Dietz comes to fully accept humans as equals. She is particularly drawn to her former rival, Akira Yamamoto. The two form a strong bond of mutual admiration just before they part company on Iscandar (“The Distant Promised Land”). Like many Garmillas, Dietz reveres Iscanadar, and holds Princess Yurisha Iscandar in high esteem (“The Planet That We Head For”, “One Man's War”). Suspicious at first, Dietz quickly comes to love parfaits ("The Planet That We Head For"). She is also an excellent diver and swimmer (“The Distant Promised Land”). Notes * Dietz's initial storyline mirrors that of the original series episode "Hurry Yamato! Earth is Suffering!" in which Susumu Kodai and Saburo Kato capture a Gamilas fighter and pilot. In that episode, the pilot was male and did not speak a word, and Kodai lost his composure and attacked the pilot. Dietz's storyline was greatly elaborated and extended from the original. *The rank of lower storm leader is a literal translation of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) rank Untersturmführer, which was a paramilitary rank equivalent to second lieutenant. *Throughout the Yamato 2199 series, Melda Dietz is the only Garmillan service member to wear a red dress uniform and a purple flight suit. It is unclear whether the colors have significance within the military, or if they are merely a personal style choice. References Japanese language information メルダ・ディッツ Meruda Dittsu Category:Female Characters Category:Garmillas Characters Category:Great Garmillas Empire